What’s Happening In The Job Market Right Now

Here's What You Need To Know

We’re heading into the last week of January. It’s hard to believe the first month of 2021 is nearly over. While so far, it’s not nearly as dreadful as last year, there’s still a long road ahead of us. If you are looking to find a new job or seek to advance your career, be prepared, there will be roadblocks in front of you.

An informal polling of a job-hunting Facebook group that I run indicated that people are still having a tough time getting interviews, callbacks or job offers. They’ve said that there are some communications from companies and recruiters, unfortunately they peter-out and don’t lead anywhere.

Here is what’s happening now. There are two big issues that companies are preoccupied with; the ability to quickly roll out the vaccine and it’s efficacy, and how President Biden’s policies and programs impact the economy. Both of these actions will influence the health of the job market.

For example, President Biden signed an executive order revoking the permit for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. It’s estimated this edict would cost thousands of jobs. The order creates an atmosphere of uncertainty. The decision raises concerns for workers gainfully employed in the oil, gas and fracking industries.

Questions arise if Biden will enact more policies that adversely impact current jobs in favor of the chance that new ones could be created by his initiative for a green economy? This is not meant as an indictment of Biden’s policies, it’s an illustration of how companies are put into the position of waiting to see how other programs of the new administration will impact their businesses. The unknown leads to inertia, with little or no hiring until they see a clear picture. Once things are known, companies will adjust and act accordingly, including hiring again.

With these two looming uncertainties, it’s too easy for hiring managers to do nothing. They’re afraid of making a decision without possessing sufficient knowledge about what will happen next. In my experience as a recruiter, it’s been demonstrated that companies hire aggressively when they feel confident about the future. When they lack clarity, they hold off, enact hiring freezes and downsize workers to cut costs just in case things get worse.

It’s becoming clear that the government and corporations are waiting for a large percentage of Americans to get vaccinated before the economy can be reopened. According to Dr. Fauci, this may take up until the summer or fall. The concern is that at the current rate of vaccinations, we won’t get to these numbers until 2022. Fauci, recognizing the dilemma said, “The only way to solve a problem is to own it.” He added, “Everybody wear a mask, everybody adhere to the public health measures, get the vaccine out as expeditiously as possible, do everything we can to get the doses available and to get them into people’s arms.”

I’m not writing this to discourage you, it’s to manage your expectations. Armed with this knowledge, it makes sense why you’re not getting interviews or job offers. It’s a wait-and-see job market right now. This doesn’t mean you should give up. Use this time to get in front of people. Plant the seeds so that when things turn around you’ll be in good shape.

Pace yourself as we may continue to be in lockdown until the summer or next fall. Dr. Fauci, who is being kept on as President Biden’s chief medical adviser on Covid-19, said the U.S. won’t be able to vaccinate 70% to 85% of adults until the end of the summer, which “means a semblance of normalcy by the fall.”

Dr. Fauci seems like an honest, earnest, lovable public servant. He’s a refreshing reminder of what doctors were like before medicine became a big business. A time when they actually made house calls with their little black bags and cared more about their patients than their bank accounts.

The challenge with Dr. Fauci and our politicians is that they have a different agenda than the public. It’s not their fault, it’s the part they’re forced to play. They have to say keep things shut down until about 90% or more of the population is vaccinated. It would be career suicide for medical professionals and politicians to order a swift reopening as there’s a high likelihood even more people will contract the disease or succumb to it. They’ll be vilified and lose their jobs for their decision. It’s more career expedient to call for caution.

The problem for job seekers, business owners and people who want to get promotions is that things won’t move too quickly at the current rate of vaccinations. Roughly more than 17.5 million doses have been administered—in a county that has about 330 million people—and officials say they aren’t getting the vaccines fast enough to meet demand.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp complained that he’s seeing an unacceptable rise in Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Kemp cites that the 120,000 doses allotted per week to Georgia isn’t sufficient enough to vaccinate seniors and other high-risk residents, as there is  significantly “more demand than we have supply.”

New York City, according to CNN, doesn’t have enough “doses to vaccinate members of the NYPD and FDNY.” In Los Angeles, residents over 65 years old waited in line for up to five hours to receive their shots at Dodger Stadium, said LA Mayor Eric Garcetti. He advised those who were coming for their shots to be prepared, “There may be a wait…so use the restroom beforehand, bring water and snacks and make sure your gas tank is filled up or your car is charged.”

Dr. Vivek Murthy, Biden’s pick for Surgeon General, admitted that we must speed up the vaccinations, saying, “We cannot take a year in order to get to the critical levels of vaccination that we need in this country.” Murthy urged, “We’ve got to get there sooner.” There are other problems too. The Kaiser Family Foundation, in a study, found that “about six in 10 Americans don’t know when or where to get a coronavirus vaccine. Understandably large numbers of people are frustrated, angry and confused.”

Hopefully, Biden and his team will devise a plan to expedite the vaccinations. The recent weekly and month jobs reports have been dismal. The economists squarely place the staggering amount of job losses on the disease. They contend that the virus has stopped people from conducting their usual spending activities, as they’re stuck indoors. As a consequence, companies have suffered and were forced to layoff workers. As more people are forced into unemployment, they spend less and the cycle continues.

To break this downward spiral, the disease needs to be swiftly stopped. We’re putting all of our hopes on the vaccine. The sooner it’s given out, the quicker we’ll get back to work.